A Long And Roundabout Meander

Or, In Other Words, Business As Usual
For the blog is not known for being succinct.  Let's face it, who would fancy having to sit down and edit scrivel like this on a daily basis?  And it's not as if any of you out there have to pay for it.
     So.  First of all we shall be unseasonably harsh and martial and refer to the Second Unpleasantness rather a lot - business as usual, remember? - so if you're full of port, nuts and goodwill, then you are definitely in the wrong tent and the wrong desert.  Possibly the wrong planet.

If you see one of these, definitely the wrong planet.

      Okaaaay, we have been banging on about that epic film "A Bridge Too Far", which concerns Operation Market Garden, and how it all went wrong at Arnhem.  In fact, as Professor John Buckley points out in "Monty's Men", it is astonishing how close the whole thing came to succeeding, which is also the viewpoint of Jim and Al on their podcast "We Have Ways" - business as usual, gentle reader, business as usual.

      Okay, the film was shot in 1976 and used the original kit left over from the Second Unpleasantness, since the Greek and Turkish armies were getting shot of it.  When you see paratroopers jumping out of Dakota aircraft, those are real paratroopers and real aircraft: no CGI or matte effects here.  Art?

      I believe this is 1 Para dropping.  Cunning old fox Dickie Attenborough knew he was only going to get one take of this, so he set up 19 different cameras to film the drop, just to be sure, and therefore the possibly 1,000 paratroopers do indeed look like 19,000 with all the editing and movement between different camera points of view.

      Right, back to paratroopers and films.  Major John Frost was the valiant chap in charge at the Arnhem bridge; he was an officer of considerable experience and ability, who did not mince words.  He had fought with the paras in Tunisia.
     Okay, now let's jump to the film "The Red Beret", which starred Alan Ladd, who was pretending to be a Canadian, which is alright as Anton Diffring was pretending to be Polish.

There you go and thanks, Alamy.

     That second name is the one I want you to take notice of.  He is Leo Genn, if your eyesight is troubling you.  His character is "Major John Snow" because the real one would have objected to being portrayed - bone-deep reticence, remember?  Art?

Leo to starboard

     For Leo led an interesting life.  He qualified as a barrister in 1928, which here in the Pond of Eden meant he was doing what lawyers do in South Canada.  Not serving coffee, Vulnavia.  He was retained as a consultant on the film "Accused" and because he was so good at portraying drama with flair, he got a small role in the film itself, and went on to become an actor in major roles in cinema.  Seeing which way the wind was blowing in the late Thirties, he joined the army reserves as an officer.

Probably a film publicity photo.

     It's nearly impossible to find any pictures of him in wartime, so that above will have to do.  He gained a commission in 1940, which means he became a Lieutenant; by the war's end he had risen to become a Colonel in the Royal Artillery*, so he was doing something right.

     And then that legal background comes into play.  He was one of the prosecutors in war crimes trials to do with the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, after having been part of the investigation into same, which was probably the polar opposite of fun.

He got an Oscar nom for this role

     So there you have it.  A shifting sojourn of solipsism**.

     Motley!  We can't get on our bad motor scooter and ride because both of them are in for their MOT.  Shall we go for a walk instead?

The Haul
For Lo!  Conrad was out of the office early early early on Christmas Eve, unlike his previous employer, who chained folks to their desks until 18:00, the <long string of inventive and imaginative swearing redacted by Mister Hand>.  Thus it was that Eddie's book shack on Church Street Market was still open, since he keeps hours that suit himself but not me.  Art!

     Ooops.  I didn't take a photo.  Welllllll  anyway.  Art?
                             
     A signed First Edition for only £5!   In my unsurpassable glee I did Tweet about this to Jim, who is probably not best pleased that some twonk offloaded his SFE to Eddie.  Well: cloud; silver; lining.  I shall probably have to put them on a bland background and photograph them in order to generate a bit of content.
Meanwhile, Back At Pine Bend SAC Silo Seventeen -
No, only joking.  Because nuclear weapons are so hilarious, right?  
     Anyway, the reason why you're only getting one post today is that, since it's Boxing Day, there is a long-standing tradition of going ten-pin bowling with the extended family.  Sadly Darling Daughter couldn't be there as she had to work, so no (Quiet) Tom either.  Art?

The throng in action.

     Centre stage there is Neil, who absolutely smashed it with a total score of 144, which nobody else got near.  Normally Conrad manages a decent score, but not this year; I was embarrassingly bad.  Also -

     Neil smashed it: I broke it.  Sorry!
Finally -
"TRAGEDIENNE".     That's the answer.  The cryptic question was "The actress Greta Eden in adaptation (11)".  Now, of course I got it because I am awesome at crosswords, but!  Compilers, please think of the other people out there who do not possess my skills - do you want to condemn them to a long "It was a written punishment (8)" as they try to "A rodent that deducts (5)" it, unsuccessfully?  a Rodnac writes.

Because!

     And with that, yes indeed we are done.
*  Motto "Ubique"; Conrad's nickname is "The Botherers"
**  Conrad not too sure what solipsism actually is, but, then again, so are you